“Frogmen” was the nickname given to the members of the newly formed Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) during World War II. Their fellow service members called them “Half Fish, Half Nuts”. They were the predecessors of today’s Navy SEAL teams. George Morgan The history of the formation of these special units is the subject of a new book by award winning journalist & author Andrew Dubbins. It is called “Into Enemy Waters; a World War II Story of the [...]
Valor Club is an innovative master planned community specifically designed for transitioning Veterans. The development will be built on 200 acres five miles southeast of San Antonio. At full build out, the $330 million dollar community will include 1,400 residential units on a campus also featuring various support amenities and services. This community will be the first of its kind on this scale. Michael McDowell is the President & CEO of Valor Club and a Marine Veteran with multiple combat [...]
Hometown Heroes Radio creator and host Paul Loeffler has done some amazing work assuring that the stories of World War II and Korean era Veterans are not lost to history. Since 2005 Paul has interviewed an average of one World War II Veteran per week. Much of Paul’s inspiration came from an early moment in his life when he accidentally came across a framed newspaper article hidden away in his grandfather’s closet. It described how Dr. Robert Loeffler pulled 26 [...]
Landing craft and the men who sailed them were often unheralded. But they were a critical part of our victory in World War II. They were especially important to the island hopping campaign in the Pacific theater. Like many of his generation, Steven Ganzberger enlisted as soon as he turned 18 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. His grandson Zach Morris has always been an avid World War II historian. He was visiting town on May 18, 2011 and decided [...]
The Distinguished Flying Cross is our nation’s fourth highest award for heroism and the highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement. Three time DFC recipient Ross Detwiler and his fellow “Misty” pilots volunteered to fly some of the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam War. Twenty two percent of the forward air controllers were shot down. Ross was among them. The original Forward Air Control missions were flown in much slower, propeller driven aircraft. However, because the loss rates of pilots [...]
Havok Journal editor Scott Faith joins us for a regular update. Scott is currently an active duty officer with half a dozen combat deployments. He writes under a pseudonym. We begin with one of the first articles he published for Havok Journal, “What Veterans Are (Still) Owed on 4th of July”. The article caused quite a stir because in Scott’s opinion his fellow citizens don’t owe him anything. He doesn’t expect free drinks or store discounts and is perfectly okay [...]
Shadow Tier author Steve Snyder served in the White House Communications Office, worked with the Secret Service and earned his Green Beret. Much of that experience is reflected in the pages of his first published book. While in Army basic training at Fort Ord, a group of men wearing suits and sporting non-regulation hair addressed his class asking for volunteers for a special assignment. Steve figured wearing suits sure beat crawling around in the mud. He would become a member [...]
“Shot Down” tells the story of the crew of the “Susan Ruth”, a WWII B-17 shot down on Feb. 8, 1944 over the French/Belgium Border. The name was given to the aircraft by Pilot Howard Snyder in honor of his young daughter. Steve Snyder, Howard’s son, has written a meticulously researched and detailed book that describes the lives of the crew members and their harrowing months in hiding from German forces. The book also tells the stories of the brave [...]
Sentinels of Freedom began as a way of honoring young people choosing to join the military out of high school. Following the 9/11 attacks, Mike Conklin and his group realized that some of these young people would be coming home severely injured and would likely need extra help. Their first “Sentinel” had been run over by a tank. Mike’s group arranged for a donated four year apartment lease, a car, furniture and everything he would need to start his life [...]
D-Day was the greatest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare and one that that Harper Coleman will never forget. A member of the 4th Infantry Division, he landed in the first wave at Utah beach carrying a 30 pound machine gun over his head. Harper just celebrated his 100th birthday and joins us to share his memories of D-Day and the other major battles he was part of as his unit moved across Europe. Suzanne Ryan is an avid [...]